What They Say
Digitimes Research said that it expects the small to medium-size panel shipments from Taiwanese panel makers to decline by around 1.1% on a quarterly basis to 210 million after growing 11.7% from Q1 in Q2 (although Q2 was down 9% on Q2 2020). The growth in Q2 was from demand for displays for feature phones and entry-level wearables.
Hannstar will switch from feature phone displays to smartphone panels, reducing the unit volume and could lead to a 19.6% unit shipment decline. The firm said that Amazon has moved to focus on tablets of over 10″ size and that means that HKC will start competing with Taiwanese makers for the 7″ to 8″ segment.
Over the year, the researcher said that Taiwan’s shipments are expected to drop 6.9% on year to 790 million units in 2021.
What We Think
The move to OLED in smartphones and the relative weakness in that technology in Taiwan is going to make it harder and harder for Taiwanese panel makers to generate value. While in large area applications, panel makers such as AUO and LG Display can focus on higher value segments in gaming or public displays, but the premium segments in small/medium displays is in OLED. (BR)
Feature Phone Shares. It’s slightly surprising to see Samsung still active in this segment. Source:Statista
